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Should we pay for supplemental insurance in case there is an emergency? Mom is 78, is incontinent, and in the mid-stages of Alzheimer's. She lives in memory care. She is not seeing a dentist regularly right now. Over the last few months we had focused on Dad's dental problems by taking him to multiple appts — extractions, cleanings, replacing a veneer — before he passed away in February.

MamaBearlyThere: Dental care is important. It would be great to afford dental insurance.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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My mom has Humana Gold Medicare advantage and it has $2500 for dental insurance. This is in Colorado. I don’t know if other Medicare plans have insurance coverage.
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Reply to Sami1966
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I would suggest that she get regular dental screenings - every 6 months - to clean teeth and identify problems while they are small. You can talk to her doctor about a mild anti-anxiety medication that she will be given 1 hour before her dental appointments to help her relax and cooperate.

Why get dental care? Infections hurt. Cavities (infections) can lead to heart issues - more pain. Eating is easier with a full set of teeth and most people do not enjoy a "dental soft diet."
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Reply to Taarna
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My husband has Parkinson's and cognitive issues. When he was mobile, in a wheelchair, I took him to our dentist for a cleaning. He was so agitated that a cleaning was impossible. I will need to take him to a dentist who will fully sedate him if dental emergencies arise. So, although he's on my dental insurance, it's most likely not worth the monthly premium.
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Reply to JanPeck123
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Price out Dental policies. I found for what Mom would have gotten, it was not worth the price. My Dads former employer stopped provided a healthcare provider for retired employees. They gave them $1400 a year to buy what ever coverage they wanted thru a certain agency. (Before Obama) I found a medicap policy at $100 a month. The $200 left was banked. When Mom needed some work, she had banked enough to pay for it. Otherwise, she paid for regular cleanings and her glasses.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Couple of things to consider: if you anticipate that your mom will be filing for LTC Medicaid eventually and she will have a spend-down to do to be under the asset max, doing a dental work can be a easy, legit and worthwhile spend down. However the drawback to dental care when they have dementia is they often are not able to be following directions needed. Like they can’t stay fixed standing and being head forward to do rapidographs, unable to keep their mouth open to pull an impression, etc. Mull over if that would be an issue as that will be an issue to finding a dentist who can do the work with whatever extra sedation needed as it’s way more of a risk.

fwiw Medicare is actually now doing expanded coverage for specific dental care. It’s mainly due to unhealthy teeth pose issues for heart conditions & cancer. Like dental work b4 heart valve replacement and b4 head/neck cancer treatments. It will usually be DMD oral maxilliofacial surgeon affiliated with a medical school/ teaching hospital.
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Reply to igloo572
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What does your mother's doctor say about dental based on an evaluation of her dementia condition?

Without coverage, dental work does get expensive. Even with coverage, much dental work leaves some copayments.
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Reply to Patathome01
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Patathome01 Apr 9, 2025
Also consider any heart conditions.

My mother suffered dental infections and had only local anesthesia to pull affected teeth since general sedation risked killing her because of her congestive heart disease at ages 90-94.
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I would say this depends on how inexpensive it would be to add (it usually isn't very high amount) and how likely for her to need work, and you to have work done in the present circumstances. As you know her best, whether or not she could go to dentist if needed, and how much difference in pay it would be if she DOES go from insured to not, it is best a decision in your own hands.

Wish you good luck in weighing this out. I myself would tend toward not getting it and knowing she will be paying a bit more in the case of an emergency dental need.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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My MA plan covers dental. Before I was Medicare eligable, I priced out dental plans and found it was a wash. Coverage basically covered periodic cleaning but paid very little for cavities and crowns. Unless you plan on doing twice yearly visits, it is best to just pay as you go.
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Reply to MACinCT
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My dad dropped his dental insurance a bit after retirement. He did the math, always, and found he could just pay for cleanings and not pay the ever rising premiums. In your shoes, I’d say don’t bother with it
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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Not necessarily. As long as I could get my late husband into my car, I always took him to our long-term dentist. The one that occasionally came to his long-term care center was pretty useless. Our dentist prescribed a low dose of valium for him to take prior to his appointment. I picked it up and gave it to the long-term care staff w/clear instructions about when to give it to him and when I'd be picking him up, It was well worth it to have him see a competent dentist who had had him as a patient for years prior to this. I paid for his dental insurance. I also took him to our long-term optometrist. One of my pensions included vision insurance so I also kept him on my vision insurance and drove him there. Why treat people w/dementia as throwaways unworthy of proper dental and optometric care?
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Reply to swmckeown76
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If your mom isn't getting regular dental checkups now, and lives in a MC, then you may just want to leave well enough alone, knowing of course that if a dental emergency arises that she'll have to pay for care out of pocket.
But trying to get someone with dementia to any outside appointment is trying to say the least, and not always worth the aggravation.
Hopefully your mom at least has a dentist that can come to her memory care facility if needed.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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